It’s safe to say you’ve never skied anywhere quite like Le Massif, which lies about two hours north of Quebec City. For starters, you first click into your bindings at the top, and ski down toward the shimmering Saint Lawrence River 2,526 feet below before you ever sit in a lift chair. This vertical drop, the biggest east of the Rocky Mountains, accounts for the jaw-dropping scenery that led this place to be designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. This is the Charlevoix region, known for rich farms, mountainous beauty, and — arguably — the best skiing in eastern Canada.

You may also start at the bottom, dropped at a base lodge by a new train that runs from Quebec City to Petite-Rivière-Saint-François on rails that seem to barely cling to the rocky shoreline. The train stops literally at the base of the ski lift, a nice Euro-ski touch. The cushy train is owned — with a few other partners — by the same guy who owns Le Massif: Daniel Gauthier, who is more famous as co-founder of Cirque du Soleil.